Wyrd Sisters
by Muffinzelda
Summary: What if the police had managed to bring Hobson in for questioning before she was kidnapped? An alternate dénouement for Falling Darkness. (Yes, this ep has been re-done before, and by better writers than myself. But I really wanted to see this cauldron bubble over.)


Author Note- This story is for fan purposes only. All of the characters and the italicized text are property of their respective owners (not me) and are used here without permission.

_Lewis: Bring her in. _

_Hathaway: Sir? _

_Lewis: A formal interview down at the station under caution. _

_Hathaway: On what charge? _

_Lewis: Obstructing a murder inquiry._

_ -Falling Darkness_

Three wise women had been flatmates back in their student days. Professor Ligeia Willard, Dr. Ellen Jacoby, and Dr. Laura Hobson had planned a reunion since all three were in Oxford. Tragically, they never made it to dinner. The first was dead, staked through the heart with garlic stuffed in her mouth as if one had been eradicating a vampire. The second was in hospital, having been beaten and left for dead by the river. The third was sitting in an interrogation room of the Oxfordshire police station.

Dr. Hobson waited for over an hour in that small, dark room, not that she was aware of the time. She was numb, unable to reconcile her instincts: first that the police station was familiar and full of allies, and second, that said allies were treating her with suspicion.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Doctor," said Sergeant Hathaway as he entered the room.

"What am I doing here, James?"

"It's partly for your own protection. It seems that there's a conspiracy against you."

"But why here, James?" this time indicating the interrogation room. "They say I'm being held under caution for hindering your inquiry. I've told you everything I know. You're the one holding back. Do you have proof of this conspiracy, or are you basing all this on fridge magnets and a psychic?"

He drew in a breath and released it slowly, as if he were smoking a cigarette. "Every path we go down, your name keeps coming up. There's a glaring omission in your account of your student days. We need you to be completely honest this time."

"We. So, where is Inspector Lewis, exactly?"

"Out. He's trying to apprehend your would-be assassins." It did not escape Hobson's attention that Hathaway was trying to make his boss seem chivalrous, but she wasn't having any of it.

"That's rubbish. He's on the other side of that glass, isn't he?" She turned to the one-way mirror and called out. "Are you watching this, Robbie?" On the other side of the glass, Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent noticed there was indeed a bit of colour rising in Robbie Lewis' face, betraying his otherwise stoic expression.

Hathaway refocused her attention. "No such luck. You're stuck with me tonight. Tell me about March 17, 1986."

"That year? After I left school, I did a gap year in Canada, working at a clinic in Vancouver. That date? No idea. It would have been St. Patrick's day, so I was probably in a pub drinking some disgusting dyed-green brew."

"Canada? You're sure you weren't in Holmwood Park?"

"Are you saying that I'd gone mad and had to be institutionalized? "

"Not at all, Doctor." Hathaway searched for a delicate way to phrase his next prompt. "Sometimes when a young woman goes away, she is concealing a certain condition."

Hobson was taken aback by what Hathaway was insinuating. "So if I wasn't a nutter, I was pregnant; is that it? You're wrong on both counts, Sergeant." She was getting really piqued.

"We've been to the maternity hospital. We have the records. It'd be best if you just explain what happened."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. If you know so much about my life, then tell me, was it a boy or girl?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Twins. One of each, as it happens."

"Twins? Of course! Do you realize that each time you open your mouth this becomes more ludicrous? Dare I ask who the father was? No, don't tell me. You think it was Alec Pickman, don't you?" Hobson knew that the drunken artist had provoked Lewis' ire- not only in his role as Inspector, but as her would-be suitor as well. Turning to the mirror, she yelled, "is that what you think, Robbie?"

As Hathaway was explaining that the father was Peter Hawkins, Lewis came into the room.

"Enough."

"You're damned right it's enough! About time you decided to join us." Hobson rose up from her seat and rounded the table, darting in Lewis's direction until Hathaway grabbed her and held her back. "Not that it's any of your business, but I've been on the pill since I was eighteen." She continued to shout from around Hathaway's arm. "You already think I'm a witch, so I don't mind telling you that even if hypothetically I did find myself fresh out of school and expectant- which I didn't- I would have terminated the pregnancy." She didn't know what she truly would have done in such a situation back then, but tonight she wanted there to be no doubt in Lewis' mind. She did not have children.

Lewis raised his voice in turn. "I don't think you're a witch. This one here's the God-botherer, not me." Lewis attempted to deflect her venomous propos, but the only reaction he managed to elicit was Hathaway rolling his eyes.

"Who do you think I am, then, in your warped version of my life?" Hobson riposted, as Lewis spoke up simultaneously.

"I'm trying to tell you that I believe you."

"About bloody time!" she hissed.

Lewis took the seat that Hathaway had been occupying in front of the table and motioned for Hobson to take the one on the other side. She did, though the look she shot him told him that she did so reluctantly.

"Laura, could someone have assumed your identity?"

"What? What are you getting at this time?"

"We have the records in black and white. Twins were born to Laura Hobson and Peter Hawkins. We're sure that Hawkins was the father because one of the bairns inherited the same genetic disease that ultimately drove him to suicide." Lewis noticed that she flinched as he spoke. "If you weren't the mother, who was claiming to be you? Someone who knew both you and Hawkins intimately… it'd have to be Jacoby or Willard, no?"

Hobson shook her head hopelessly as she started to consider that scenario. "We shared everything- clothes, make-up, shoes, pocketbooks…" Lewis and Hathaway exchanged a furtive glance to confirm that both had silently appended _boyfriends_ to the list. "…to the point where we had a hard time dividing up what was whose when it was time to go our separate ways. I got the mumps at the end of term, so I wasn't there for the final good-byes. When I came back to gather my affaires, the girls had cleaned out most of the apartment. So it is entirely possible that one of them could have ended up with proof of my ID."

"Which one, Laura?"

Hobson's eyes widened and then closed as the truth dawned upon her. "Ligeia. I can't believe that she would… But I can… She and her ex never wanted kids but then she fell pregnant. The ethical dilemma ate her up inside; she just couldn't bring herself to terminate. They gave parenting a shot, but the stress got the best of them. In the end, they'd divorced and practically abandoned poor Chloe to her in-laws in Scotland. Ellen and I were just noting the irony that pro-life groups were out protesting Ligeia's work when Ligeia herself didn't believe in abortion. The embryos they used had all been fertilized in vitro, so Ligeia couldn't understand why so many sanctimonious protesters thought it was tantamount to murdering babies. Don't they understand that this research can help those afflicted with degenerative diseases?"

"Which brings us back to Peter Hawkins." Lewis picked up the narrative. "So all those years ago Ligeia turned to Peter when Alec betrayed her with Ellen. She became pregnant and put the twins up for adoption. Years later, the girl is going mad from the same genetic sleep disorder that killed Peter. The twins decide to find their mother and carry out a vendetta against her when she doesn't acknowledge them." Lewis was satisfied with this explanation of events, though Hobson still looked incredulous.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry we had to put you through this. I had to follow through with the evidence…" He said softly, hoping that Innocent couldn't hear it picked up by the microphone.

"I'm only interested in your apology if it means I can go home." Her words were laced with the betrayal of her friends. Ligeia had acted out of fear, Robbie and James had acted out of duty, but Laura was still stinging from both acts.

Her angry gaze pierced Lewis and he remembered that burst of adrenaline that he had felt just about 48 hours ago when he'd seen Hobson start to faint. He had caught her in his arms after she recognized her dead friend. Where did he go wrong? When did he lose faith in this woman that he did care very much about? "I am sorry on a personal level too." He reached toward her hand on the table which she rapidly retracted.

"Just take me home, Robbie." She was curt.

"I'll talk to Innocent. James can get you some tea in the meantime." The two men left the room and met Innocent in the hall. "Ma'am," Lewis began.

Jean Innocent cut him off. "There's been a development. The twins turned up at Hobson's place and incapacitated the uniform we had posted there. Not before he alerted us, though. He'll be all right, thankfully. They broke into her home, presumably looking to attack her. They were apprehended by the responding officers and are on their way to booking now."

Lewis sighed and then went back into the interrogation room to tell Hobson that she was free but that she couldn't go home while her house was still a crime scene. She listened to the increasingly surreal events and fought back tears.

"If you hadn't sequestered me here, I hate to think what they might have…"

"But they didn't, so it's best not to dwell on it. You're safe, and it's over now."

"Thank you, Robbie."

"I never should have doubted you." He couldn't believe what he said next, but it just bubbled forth from his pangs of guilt over not believing her. "If you want, you could go back to my flat and get some rest. I wouldn't be there to bother you; the suspects are on their way in and I'll be working through the night. Uniform would stay outside." He offered meekly, realizing how ineffective the uniform had been the last time. He knew it wasn't enough, but he would try to salvage their friendship.

"That's very kind of you, but if it's all the same I think I'd rather stay at a hotel." Hobson declined politely, but her hurt was still apparent. He nodded, accepting that she could forgive him easier than she could forget what had happened.

"At least let me drive you over, all right? Hathaway can start in on them until I get back."

She agreed, and though there were precious few words spoken between them after that point, there was a mutual appreciation of each other's presence. She even took his arm for support as he led her away from the station.


End file.
